


children of the dunes

by PresDeMonCoeur



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Dysfunctional Family, Family Issues, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Fialleril, Gen, Tatooine Slave Culture, Tattoine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-03 00:34:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10956021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PresDeMonCoeur/pseuds/PresDeMonCoeur
Summary: Leia is the rain in a forest and the waves on a lake, soft and dangerous like her mother was, as skilled with a blaster as she is with her words.Luke grew to become the sandstorm scouring the land, to become the twin suns, to become the great Krayt dragon.(aka how Luke and Leia are like their parents)





	1. opposite ends of the galaxy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was heavily inspired by fialleril's amazing worldbuilding and gorgeous slave culture. You should totally check out their tumblr/ao3. Hope you enjoy!

Leia never forgives Vader for what he did to Alderaan. His interrogation was easy to forget, for all is fair in war, and the rebels have been as harsh to Imperials as he was to her. But what he did to her planet, to her mother and father, to the millions of innocent lives? That she can never forgive.

She believes in order and democracy, in having a voice and from her childhood she knows how to fight with her words and her brains, and thus she cannot forgive Vader for following blindly instead of fighting. 

She is like her mother in almost every way imaginable: in her violent belief in others, in her hope, in her steely determination and strength of character. She is the rain in a forest and the waves on a lake, soft and dangerous like her mother was, as skilled with a blaster as she is with her words.

Luke forgives his father for everything, even for his loss of limb and Han's carbonite prison and the thousands of death caused by him. You see Luke Skywalker may have been born the free son of a slave, but he grew up on Tattoine, learned the harshness of having two suns beat on his back as he worked, wandered the streets learning the language of the slaves and the droids, has witnessed slaves murder each other upon their masters orders. He understands that there is an obedience instilled in slaves from birth, and knows his father has never been free - that his slave master owned him, that the Jedi owned him, that Sidious owned him. He forgives his father because he understands him at a deeper, baser level than Leia ever will. He feels the same anger, the same desperation, the same love and blind faith as his father. 

Luke may speak softly like his mother but he was raised on a planet of desperation, and he grew to become the sandstorm scouring the land, to become the twin suns, to become the great Krayt dragon. He is more dangerous than his twin because Leia is Princess, she is Senator, she is General, she is determined and strong like her mother, but Luke is freer of slaves, destroyer of worlds, breaker of chains and he is as passionate and as ruthless as his father.

Leia is like Padme in that everything she does, she does for a cause, for people she does not know, (and Leia fights with all she has (she fights for freedom like her father)). Luke is more like Anakin in that he is selfish in his help, trying to save those he loves is more important than anything (and Luke loves deeply, aggressively like his father (but he sees the best in people as his mother did)).


	2. twin suns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> how not all children follow the mother

Both of Padme's children are fighters, their strength forged in rebellion and tempered in war. They speak softly as she did, tilt their heads when thinking as she did, fight for a cause as she did.

But not all children follow the mother and whilst they bear similarities, her twins walk the path of their father.

Luke is a child of Tattoine, determined and brave, made deadly and silent by the shifting dunes and swirling sands. He feels his emotions deeply - violent hate, passionate love. Like his father he is skilled and intelligent, ruthless with his smile and his 'saber. He flies through the skies with the same carefree ease his father did, and in turn he feels the force flow through him just as easily. 

Leia is more easily angered than her twin, inheriting her father's hot temper and sharp tongue. She is as logical as he was, quick-witted and fast as he was. Her upbringing on Alderaan did develop her leadership skills, but she falls naturally into it, following in her father's footsteps as General. She is as good an aim as he was, as quick to draw as he was and as charming as he was.

On Tattoine it is said that children follow the mother, but for the twins, Lukka and Leia, things are different and that is just fine.


	3. rainfall

Yes, the twins follow their father, but in many ways they are like their mother.

Leia has her eyes, her hair, the curve of her smile. Luke has her nose, her laugh and the tilt of her shoulders. 

Leia follows her career, becoming a politician, a fighter and a princess. Luke follows her mannerisms, becoming hopeful, loving and quick-witted.

Leia looks a lot like Padme but sometimes her eyes shine a little too much like her father's, and Luke looks most like Anakin, but when he bites his lip or roars with laughter, he looks just like his mother.

Both twins fight for what is right like their mother, against tyranny and dictatorship, for democracy and equality. Both carry her bright spirit and caring nature, both have her adaptability and ingenuity.

On Naboo most children take after the father, but the twins take after their mother.


	4. the rendering

Perhaps, dear reader, it is unfair to categorise Luke and Leia into the categories for mother and father (for all children resemble their parents in some way) and to do so is to disrespect their choices and personal development.

So yes, the twins are like their mother, soft and strong at the same time, and yes they are like their father, clever and dangerous, but they are also like one another and like their adoptive families and their friends.

Perhaps, dear reader, their defining features are not that they are like people they know, but that the twins are irrevocably themselves, and they hold their own destiny and choices in their hands.


End file.
